The Pope’s words yesterday:

These words call to mind our common faith and the mystery of the salvation we have received, a gift which we must pass on to the men and women of our day. The fact that the feast of Saints Peter and Paul is celebrated on the same day by both Catholics and Orthodox evokes our shared Apostolic succession and ecclesial fraternity.

I am pleased to recall here how Byzantine hymnography attributes to Saint Peter a title charged with meaning, that of protocoryphaeus, the first in the choir who has the task of maintaining the harmony of the voices, for the glory of God and the service of his people.

I am therefore grateful to you who have come to unite your prayer to ours, prompted by our common commitment to continue the journey that leads us step by step to eliminate all dissonance from the choir of the one Church of Christ.